I have a nephew that loves superheros. I know lots of little boys that love dinosaurs. What's not to like? The make strange sounds and have big teeth (Side note: Do we really know if dinosaurs roared like in Jurassic Park? Although paleontologists has been able to reconstruct the skull and nasal cavities and can speculate what they sounded like, no one really knows. What if they meowed? Think about it...). I always hear that little kids love trains too. All of these things I would consider normal for a 2 year old boy to be obsessed with.
So, have you ever met a kid obsessed with bowling? Not just a kid who likes to go bowling, everyone likes to go bowling. No, I am talking about a full blown, everything this kid does ends up turning into bowling, type obsession. Well, I guess Koby is a little abnormal.
It all started about eight months ago, give or take. Our friend Steve and Janelle were in town and we decided to go have dinner together. There was a bowling alley right across the street and after dinner we decided it would be fun to go over there. So we headed over, got all situated and began bowling. I thought Koby would like to try, so we bought him a game too... I don't think I have ever seen Koby so excited. Not at Christmas time. Not at his birthday. Not even on the 4th of July. I think he almost hyperventilated. The rest was history.
Koby hasn't stopped talking about bowling since. Now, every time we got to the mall (right next to the bowling alley), he asks if we are going bowling. One night, after a brief trip to the mall, Megan and I decided to give in to Koby request to go bowling. Again, I think he almost hyperventilated. He is quite an intense bowler. After that trip the obsession really kicked in. The next day he began using his soccer ball as a bowling ball and would try and hit his other balls.
Not long after he decided he wanted to knock things down instead of simply hitting them. He then graduated to Tupperware.
That lasted for quite some time. Those Tupperware containers were all over our house. Everything was turned into a bowling alley. The kitchen. The bath tub. The basement. It was only a matter of time before Lincoln's toys would become bowling pins.
Yes, that's right, Elmo, a cow, a tiger, a little Asian girl, a paramedic, and a little school boy have become bowling pins. With all this bowling, Koby has actually gotten quite good. In fact he beat me the second time we went.
Well, Megan and I figure it would be nice to get Koby some real bowling pins since the Tupperware had taken quite a beating and Lincoln wanted his toys back. We were going to give them to him for Christmas, but since we are flying to Washington this year, space would be limited, so we decided to just give them to him early.
The day after Thanksgiving Megan went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping with her sister. I didn't really want to hang out at the mall, so I took Koby to BYU campus. We walked around for a bit, and then went to the bookstore and did some Christmas shopping of our own. I decided it would be fun to take Koby bowling again (just feeding the fire, I know). He had a blast! He would yell at his ball. He would jump up and had give me high-fives when he would knock down the pins. It was really fun.
That night we went home and set up all of our Christmas stuff. We put a little nativity set out on the table. While Megan and I were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, we saw Koby in the dinner room playing with the nativity set. He had set them all up in a row and was mumbling something to them. I tried to get closer to him without him noticing so I could hear what he was saying. He was holding the cow and a wise man. The cow said to the wise man, "It's your turn to go bowling." The wise man then took his turn. After he was done, the cow said to the wise man, "Good job! What is in your present? Oh, it's a bowling ball!" I just had to shake my head and laugh. Crazy kid.
Just recently Koby started adding some special "thanks" in his prayers. He now says "Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for going bowling and knocking down aaalllll the pins. I love you. Jesus Christ, amen." Crazy, crazy little boy. At least he keeps things entertaining. Gotta love him :)
Maybe he will go pro? Nothing is cooler than a Pro Bowler! I guess that could always be my retirement plan. I can see it now—professional bowler, Koby Huntington, bowling for the PBA World Championship. He needs the prize money to support his parents who went mentally insane always picking up bowling pins and things that were used as bowling pins around the house... Sounds good to me.
